Begin Riding Just For The Cycling Sun Glasses?

Cycling sun glasses are one of the few universally cool items in cycling. Bike shorts with the big fluffy pad protruding from your butt crack aren’t. You know what I’m saying?

Look at it this way…can you see yourself cruising the strip, topping off your sweet ensemble with some stylish cycling sun glasses? Yea, baby!

Can you see yourself strolling the same strip in a great shirt, some cool but non-functional skater’s shoes, and your biking shorts. You know… the shorts with the diaper built in. Looks like you lack in bladder control…like you’re planning ahead for the kind of accident that happens from laughing too hard. No, baby!

So what about these cycling sun glasses?

Rant About About.Com. What’s That About?

Are you like me…you start searching around the web for information and invariably the first entry in the search engine is taken up by ‘about.com’? That’s right, they’ve got great page rank, but skimpy content.

As an example, ‘Kevin’ has these nuggets to offer regarding cycling sun glasses- “consider materials, UV protection, style, and cost“. Like any of us hadn’t thought of these gems.

I know what I’m dealing with here…it’s a case of extreme, green colored jealousy! There’s ole Kevin, writing a few lame paragraphs on each of cycling’s accoutrements…and he’s raking in the dough from all those advertisers. Just because he’s part of the ‘about.com conspiracy’ and ranks at the top of the search engine wars.

Here I am, writing the same few lame paragraphs on each of cycling’s items…and I can’t convince my advertisers that both of my readers warrant big advertising bucks. Hi Mom, Hi Dad!

You know what I wish?

I wish I was ‘Kevin‘.

So Here We Go…

Safety first! Don’t be cheap and make your own Arkansas cycling sun glasses out of salvaged Coke glass. If you fall, the glass will break and will damage your eyes. While you may be tempted to think that it’s not that big a deal (you’ve got two of them- eyes) don’t take a chance. If you really need to conserve on materials, use colored cellophane. Better yet, ask for some real cycling glasses for Christmas. Or write to ‘Kevin’ to see if he’ll send a donated pair your way.

Modern cycling glasses are extremely light and the space age plastics work great for protecting your eyes from

Road Hazards

* little flying rocks

* little and big flying bugs

*contact lens-drying winds

*flying boogars from the guy ahead of you in the paceline

Rambling on…I like the interchangeable lenses in my Performance Bike sunglasses. I’ve never changed them (but I like them anyway) because I don’t think far enough ahead to consider the merits of a change. If I was thinking ahead, I’d probably carry along the clear lenses for a quick pit stop at the end of the ride.

As it is, I usually start out with the regular ‘UV protecting’ dark lenses. I finish the ride when it’s nearly dark wishing that I wasn’t too impatient to stop to change lenses (which I‘m not carrying anyway). But I am too impatient, and I finish the ride by Braille.

But should I someday be so wise, I can use the yellow lenses to increase contrast on a ‘flat light’ overcast day, and the clear lenses for mere eyeball protection.

I can get twice as much because I keep my eyes
open for deep discounts at Bike Nashbar.

They Stick Like Glue

Did you see the speed skaters at the Olympics? Those guys had their sunglasses on the outside of their speedsuits and they still stayed on! They didn’t even have ears to hook them onto, and they still finished the races intact. If they can do that, I’m confident that these lightweight cycling sun glasses won’t fall off- no matter what.

UV Protection

It’s all the rage these days to tout UV protection. There isn’t a set of cycling sun glasses this side of the equator that doesn’t claim to be UV safe, and that’s a good thing!

I say that it’s a good thing so that you’ll think I’m cutting edge and trendy. Actually as my concerned wife knows, I haven’t been concerned about UV rays for my entire 53 years and I estimate that I’ve got at least eight to ten years left in these peepers!

Don’t Fog Up The Windows

Good cycling glasses accommodate for your sweat. You know the drill…

You exert, you sweat, they fog.

But not with well designed cycling glasses. Some of that air rushing by is put to good use. It’s diverted by cleverly placed vents, eradicating the condensed body secretions that accumulated inside your lenses.

Cost

You can spend a couple hundred bucks for ‘Rudy Project’ or ‘Smith’ cycling sun glasses. Personally, our family did without meat for three weeks so that my son could take a little bit of change out of the family kitty. He used it to buy a pair of economy glasses from Performance Bike for me at Christmas. It was a wonderful holiday- cycling glasses and a lump of coal to warm our house.

The cheaper variety work great! After all, I’m only a ‘Kevin’ from about.com wannabe. Speaking of cheapskates- you can always find a good deal at BikeNashbar.com. They’re one of those companies that always have a lot of ’stuff’ on sale.